Countdown to Disaster

The Last Days of the R.M.S. Titanic

Wednesday, April 10, 1912

 Wednesday, April 10th, 1912 was to be the first day of Titanic's maiden voyage. At 5:17 a.m., the sun rose over Southampton, revealing for the last time Titanic warped in the White Star dock's Berth 44. Today would mark the start of her first voyage, and the start of her career as a passenger steamer, a career that would, by all indications, be a long and successful one. Things got started on this day a short time later when Captain Edward J. Smith himself arrived in his long coat and black bowler hat. On the bridge, Chief Officer Henry Wilde handed the Captain the day's sailing report. The Captain made his way to his cabin on the boat deck to change into his captain's outfit and to read over the report. This was a fine day for a voyage.

 At this same time in London, a 1st Class Boat Train left Waterloo Station, headed for Southampton and Titanic. Among it's passengers there was the American mining and smelting millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim, one of the many sons of Meier Guggenheim of New York. Travelling with Guggenheim was his chauffeur and his manservant, as well as his French mistress, Madame Aubert the singer, who was kept well out of sight from Mrs. Guggenheim, who, thankfully for Mr. Guggenheim, wasn't present, and was instead waiting for him in New York. The venerable Isidor Straus, the co-founder and co-owner of Macy's Department Store in New York was also aboard with his wife Ida, and several servants. The 2nd and 3rd Class Boat Train left Waterloo Station at 10 o'clock a.m., headed for Southampton.

 All over the city of Southampton, people began making their way to the ship. These were mostly crewmen getting ready for the muster that was to be held aboard. There was little chance of sailing without being present at the muster. From all over the city, the various crewmen arrived and began climbing aboard. Also arriving near Berth 44 was a long black limousine. Out stepped a green uniformed chauffeur, who opened the doors of the Daimler Benz. The passengers of the car emerged, and looked up and the ship, talking to each other. This was J. Bruce Ismay, Chairman of the White Star Line, his wife, and his children. They had been staying at the old Southwestern Hotel from the 9th onward. Though his family would not be sailing with him, Bruce Ismay would be present for the Titanic's maiden voyage. He would be travelling with his butler, Richard Fry, his secretary, William Henry Harrison, and his steward, Ernest Freeman. Also aboard were Thomas Andrews and Harland & Wolff's nineman Guarantee Group. Not all of the ship's owners and builders were aboard, however. Lord Pierre was still suffering from pneumonia, though he did manage to come down and visit the ship and Captain Smith before she departed. J.P. Morgan, the ships' owner, had originally booked passage, but he proved to be too ill to make the trip. He would not be saved by missing the voyage, however, as this same disease would prove fatal to him in 1913.

 The muster of Titanic's crew began at 8 o'clock a.m. when the Blue Ensign was hoisted up. In one corner stood the inspectors, Captain Benjamin Steele, Captain Smith, Dr. W.F.N. O'Loughlin, and Dr. Edward Simpson. These men would inspect the crew for their sea-worthiness. The two surgeons gave them all a health inspection. While the muster was beginning, Captain Maurice Clarke of the Board of Trade (who had inspected Titanic on the 9th) had come back aboard. He tested Lifeboat 15 with the assistance of Officers Lowe and Moody, who had assisted him the day before. He was pleased with what he saw. Smith presented him with his Master Report to the Company, which read:

 "I herewith report this ship loaded and ready for sea. The engines and boilers are in good order for the voyage, and all charts and sailing directions are up to date. Your obedient servant, Edward J. Smith."

 The Boat Train for the First Cabin arrived at 9:30, the 2nd and 3rd Cabin Train arriving at 11:30. At about this time, Harbor Pilot George Bowyer made his way aboard and his flag was run up. Bowyer was now well familiar with the Olympic Class vessels, as he had taken the Olympic out of port several times now, and had been at the helm when the ship had it's fateful collision with the H.M.S. Hawke. At about noon, a Second Class Passenger, a schoolteacher from Dulwich named Lawrence Beesley, watched from his cabin window as three Irish stokers, the three Slade brothers, arrived at the crew's gangway. Unfortunately for the Slades, they had not only missed the muster, but the ship. The three had misspent their time in the famous and venerable pub known as the Grapes. They were not allowed aboard. At noon, Titanic's huge sirens boomed, and the ship moved to the mouth of the dock.

 In Berth 38, the S.S. New York was still tied to the White Star ship Oceanic. When the giant liner passed Berth 38, the ropes connecting the New York to the Oceanic snapped, and the smaller ship was loose. Dragged on by Titanic's fast movement to the mouth of the dock the little vessel headed straight for the Titanic's side, much to the horror of both Titanic's passengers and crew and the reporters trapped aboard the New York. This was not helped by the fact that the White Star liner's tremendous bulk made it nearly impossible to move away in the confined area of the dock. It must have seemed like déjà vu for Smith and Bowyer. Thinking (and acting) quickly, Bowyer managed to avert disaster by using Titanic's main propeller to push the small ship away and as this was done, Captain Gale's tug Vulcan towed the New York back to her berth. After dropping off the Pilot, Titanic headed for France.

 Aboard Titanic now were some of the richest and most famous individuals in the world. Besides Guggenheim and the Strauses, there was Major Archibald Willingham de Graffenreid Butt and the artist Francis Davis Millet. Major Butt was the military aide to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft, and a good friend to both. The recent political friction between Roosevelt and Taft had caused Butt a good deal of grief, and so he sought relief by taking a trip to Europe with his friend, famed artist Francis Millet, most famous for such paintings as Between Two Fires. Millet was president of an art academy in Rome (despite his American birth), and so this was where the two friends headed. While in Rome, Butt also had an audience with the Pope, as President Taft had wished. Now that the holiday was over and Butt was feeling much better, the two were headed back to the United States on Titanic. That afternoon, the two men were photographed on the A-Deck Promenade.

 Then there was William Thomas Stead, the famed editor and political activist. He was undoubtedly the most famous man on Titanic, due to his political activism and his papers The Pall Mall Gazette and The Review of Reviews. He was also famous by this time for his exposing of London prostitution, and for being the man who called for General Gordon's transfer to Khartoum to fight the Mahdi. He was making "one last crusade" now by taking the ship to Washington, on the request of President Taft, for an international conference on peace. Also boarding in Southampton would be many more familiar faces, including Theodore Roosevelt's cousin, the historian Archibald Gracie, the son of General Archibald Gracie of the Confederacy States of America, who was killed at Petersburg in late 1864. There was Jacques Furtrelle, the mystery writer, and his wife May. The two had been up all night, holding a farewell party until 3 o'clock a.m., after which they packed their bags and headed for Southampton. He was photographed that afternoon up on the Boat Deck by the ship's gymnasium. There was also the famous president of the Grand Trunk Railway aboard, Charles Melville Hays of Illinois (travelling with his family), who was travelling under the personal invitation from Bruce Ismay himself.

 At 5:30 p.m., Titanic had finished crossing the English Channel and was fast approaching the French port city of Cherbourg. The city of Cherbourg was neither all that old, nor all that large, but was the most important port of France. She had also seen some violent combat. In 1864, in the height of the American Civil War, the U.S.S. Kearsage and the C.S.S. Alabama had dueled just outside it's port. As the ship approached Cherbourg, the White Star tenders Nomadic (carrying 1st and 2nd Class Passengers) and Traffic (carrying 3rd Class Passengers, or 'Steerage', and mail, of which there were 1,385 sacks taken aboard) pulled up alongside Titanic. Under the fading light that evening, hundreds of passengers boarded the ship, including some of the most famous millionaires on Earth. Most of these passengers had arrived in Cherbourg on the Train Transatlantique. Here, the debarking Cross-Channel passengers were taken to Cherbourg on these tenders when they were finished loading passengers and mail.

 This lot included, of course, Colonel John Jacob Astor and his new bride Madeleine. John Astor was from a long line of millionaires, and he was one of the richest men in the world, if not the richest. He was not only a millionaire, but had been, in his time, a Colonel in the Spanish-American War, an inventor, and a novelist. Now he had created a scandal, however, divorcing his wife for the much younger (and beautiful) Madeleine. Astor was nearing the age of fifty, while Madeleine was a mere eighteen. The scandal this created was enough to have the Astors prolong their honeymoon, spending the better part of a year in Europe and Africa. After wintering in Cairo, Mr. and Mrs. Astor decided to finally return to America on the Titanic. Madeleine was, by this time, pregnant with Astor's son. Also aboard were Lord Cosmo Edmund and Lady Lucille Duff-Gordon. The beautiful Lucille was the famed dress designer, and the sister of Elinor Glyn.

 At 8:30, all the new passengers aboard her, Titanic departed from Cherbourg for Ireland, her lights ablaze, cutting through the darkness of the night.  She moved once more through the English Channel, and past the South Coast of England.  

Countdown to Disaster has been prepared for ACT I by Titanic Researcher Addison Hart of DeKalb, Illinois.

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